A Sanders County man has been charged with child pornography and sexual exploitation of a child accused of taking videos and photographs of naked girls.
David Paul Farrar, 57, of Plains was arrested on Jan. 21 in Orofino, Idaho charged in U.S. District Court of Montana with two felonies; sexual exploitation of a child and possession of child pornography.
Charging documents state the Department of Homeland Security was contacted on Aug. 21, 2019 when a woman had come forward with information related to the discovery of suspected child pornography.
The woman told agents she discovered the suspected child pornography on electronic media devices at the home of David Paul Farrar in Plains.
Farrar had been incarcerated earlier in the year in Idaho for drug related offenses and the reporting party had been left in care of Farrar’s property.
Agents received federal search warrants to search the bedroom used by Farrar and the closet in a subsequent bedroom which Farrar was known to use.
According to charging documents, during the search, agents viewed video of a girl approximately 10 years old fully naked. In one of the videos an adult male voice can be heard on the video.
In charging documents, agents reported numerous videos found at the home showed the girl’s buttocks and genitals.
During the investigation, agents found videos of what appeared to be video recordings in bathrooms of numerous adult women and two other female children.
Agents interviewed Farrar on Nov. 6, 2019 at the Northern Idaho Correctional Institution.
Farrar admitted to the agents to making video recordings of the girl while he and she lived at home together in Plains, but claimed he was checking the girl for ticks.
Farrar also claimed he had to check the girl’s pubic area because the girl’s grandmother refused to do it.
He also admitted to agents to recording in his bathroom for several years, claiming he intended to capture illicit drug use, not to capture adults and young girls going to the bathroom.
In subsequent interviews with agents, the grandmother did not recall Farrar conducting tick checks on the young girl, nor did she ever refuse to do one herself.
Farrar remains jailed in the Missoula County Detention Center.
His next court appearance is scheduled for Feb. 12 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kathleen DeSoto.
